The Number On The Scale Doesn’t Really Matter

So, a few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to start going to the gym more often–not just for cute summer dresses and swim suits (although, hello, I’m human and I think about those things), but also just so I’d have more energy and feel healthier. Snacking on Pretzel M&Ms all day and sitting around watching TV in the air-conditioning wasn’t exactly making me feel like Wonder Woman.

Day one on the treadmill was rough. Day two was better. By day three, I’d woken up before my alarm, excited to put my sneakers on and head out the door. Good stuff, right?! Well, things went all kinds of sideways on day eight or nine when I decided to weigh myself after a workout. I’d gained three pounds. Gained?! How was this possible? I could tell I was getting in better shape because my dresses were already fitting better. The scale had to be broken, right?!

Wrong. The thing I’d forgotten, and that I always forget, is that muscle weighs more than fat. So if you’re a pretty healthy weight, and you start working out more, when some of your fat mass is replaced by muscle, you might weigh more.

When I remembered that, I decided that I really just shouldn’t weigh myself anymore. I only very rarely eat junk food, my clothes aren’t too tight, and I’m working out. That number on the scale is just a number. For girls who are seriously overweight and who are trying to lose some pounds so they can be healthier, I understand how numbers can help with goal setting and tracking progress–but we still shouldn’t obsess about them.

There are so many other way more exciting benefits of being active (like, um, having fun!) that shifting that number on the scale kind of has to take the back burner.

Who’s with me, girls? Who runs, works out, or plays a sport mainly just because it makes them feel good? Tell me all about it in the comments!

The thing that sucks for me is that i have had asma all my life but didnt know that till recently. so all my life being active was never fun because it hurt to much. so when i did find out and it didnt hurt because of my inhaler i was still stuck in the mindset that it hurt. the only way i can lose weight is eating healther because if i try work outs i can never comit

Cookies :)

Hey I’m chubby thats that. but not fat and I get called pretty all the time. Now the last time I stepped on a scale I cried and ended up in a hospital. And almost died twice because I was puking so much. BUT EVERY GIRL IS BEAUTIFUL regaurdless what anyone says

SpontaneousGurl

im ABOUT 50 kilograms since i last checked…. :s what is that in pounds?

v

Approximately 110 pounds.

CookiesXD147

hey kat person, NO DUHR A POUND OF BOTH WAYS THE SAME. people say heavier for if you take the same amount of two or more things and one weighs more. though you are correct.

Nikki

I have always been a gymnast!! No matter how often I got compliments on my muscles or how often I could out-lift the guys in gym class, it took a while to be comfortable. I did have a few pounds I could have lost (and still could) but I didn’t like the number I saw. I didn’t always feel comfortable in front of my super skinny basketball player friends especially when they would talk, “oh I’m 90 pounds,” “I am 115,” “my older brother is 130.” My worst nightmare was them finding out I weighed 140!! But I love the sport and it kept my life and body AMAZING!!

Rachel

You shouldn’t worry about your weight at 140 if you’re 5’6-5’8 tall. That’s actually what’s considered “healthy.” Anything under that, and you’d be underweight. <3

Kat

Um muscle does not weigh more than fat. Muscle is DENSER than fat. So if you had a pound of muscle and a pound of fat, they both weigh the same, but you have less muscle than you would fat.

marlys

we don’t keep a scale in our house. it just stresses you out and your so worried about numbers . You can feel if your at a good place or you could stand to lose some weight. plus everyone’s healthy weight is different so it really isnt a good judge.

Anon

Sigh, I agree with if you feel better and your clothes are looser you probably are doing fine however please refrain saying muscle weighs more than fat. 1lb of muscle is not heavier than 1 lb of fat.

http://gurl.com Melanie Abrahams

You’re totally right that one pound of muscle weighs exactly the same as one pound of fat–but those two lumps (one of fat, one of muscle) will be different sizes to weigh the same amount. Think of fat as marshmallows, and muscle as marbles–you’d have to have a pretty big bag of marshmallows to weigh the same as a kind of small bag of marbles. So you can actually be getting smaller while staying the same weight or even gaining a little. Make sense? Here’s more help: http://www.prevention.com/fitness/fitness-tips/does-muscle-weigh-more-fat